Archive for February, 2014

Where would we be without the dreamers, innovators, inventors and big thinkers whose ideas drive business? Here in the Quad-Cities, we know that more than 80 percent of all economic growth is home-grown. And we want to see our entrepreneurs thrive even more.

Quad Cities Fast Pitch is a new business idea competition open to anyone in Scott or Rock Island counties with a great business idea or dream. We are looking for bright ideas in the categories of Manufacturing/Industrial; Web/Technology; Retail/Service and Restaurant/Entertainment.

The grand prize winner will receive $5,000 cash and thousands of dollars worth of in-kind business services. Three category semi-finalists will receive $1,000 cash and in-kind services.

The Quad Cities Fast Pitch competition is a joint effort between the economic development departments from the cities of Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island and Moline and several other partners, including: Ignite Quad Cities, the Iowa and IllinoisSmallBusinessDevelopmentCenters, the University of Illinois Extension, Iowa State University Extension, AugustanaCollege and WQAD-TV. The Riverboat Development Authority is sponsoring the cash prize for the contest.

Quad Cities Fast Pitch is a three-stage competition. The first stage is an open application period, where contestants submit their ideas in writing to the contest committee in one of four categories: Technology/Web, Manufacturing/Industrial, Restaurant/Entertainment and Retail/Service. The application period is Feb. 10 through March 15. Applications can be found at the Quad Cities Fast Pitch website at quadcitiesfastpitch.com.

Five semi-finalists from each of the four categories will be chosen to present at the Quad Cities Fast Pitch live event, hosted by AugustanaCollege and WQAD. Semi-Finals and Finals Event: April 5, 2014, 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Gävle Room in Augustana College’s Student Life Center. Semi-finalists will give a 10 minute live presentation to the judging panel in the semi-final round between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Four category winners will be selected from those presentations and will be required to present live in front of an audience beginning at 4 p.m. The grand prize winner will be selected out of the four finalists.

This blog is typically focused on looking forward and concentrating on all the great projects just getting underway or recently completed as Davenport’s renaissance continues. However, sometimes it’s healthy to take a look back at where you’ve been and to measure the growth.

The past four years have shown phenomenal growth in Davenport, highlighted by local businesses growing and expanding. Around two dozen unique businesses have grown, landed or expanded in Davenport thanks to public-private partnerships since 2010. All together, they have committed more than $145 million in private investment, created nearly 300 high-quality new jobs and retained more than 2,300 positions. Their investments were supported by around $14 million in public sector contributions, showing the strength of such collaborations.

Of these businesses, 71 percent are in the manufacturing sector, 19 percent retail/service, 5 percent distribution and 5 percent document management. For every $1 in public funds invested towards a project, the private sector contributed $10.62, providing a huge return on investment of taxpayer dollars.

The following table illustrates the breadth of projects assisted:

Company

Type

Private Investment (millions)

Public Investment

Jobs Created

Jobs Retained

Alter Trading

Mfg Expansion

14.3

184,000

3

75

Cobham

Mfg Expansion

6.3

280,000

63

380

Compacker, Inc

Mfg Expansion

2.39

35,000

5

12

Fidlar Technologies

Document Mgmt

4.5

832,500

4

44

Genesis Robotics

Mfg Expansion

4.65

0

2

8

Green Buick GMC

Sales/Service

4

1,260,000

25

80

Hardi North America

Mfg Expansion

3.7

120,000

18

62

Heart of America

Sales/Service

27

4,250,000

35

0

Lewis Machine

Mfg Expansion

2.5

750,000

7

169

Maxx Industries

New Mfg

0.95

320,000

10

0

Mid American Glass

Mfg Expansion

4.1

232,000

13

29

Nestle Purina

Mfg Expansion

19

0

0

400

PCT Engineering

Mfg Expansion

0.7

100,000

4

71

Penske

Mfg Expansion

3

107,000

0

13

Phoenix Closures

Mfg Expansion

0.73

35,000

8

43

Roemer Machine

Mfg Expansion

5.5

215,000

0

20

Sadler Power Train

Mfg Expansion

3.25

144,000

6

17

Seaberg Industries

Mfg Expansion

3.3

110,000

12

90

Sears Manufacturing

Mfg Expansion

1.4

50,000

0

450

Von Maur E Comm.

Retail/Distribution

14.5

1,700,000

23

317

Von Maur HQ

HQ/Distribution

15.5

1,354,500

10

17

Von Maur E Comm.

Retail/Distribution

5.5

1,732,354

50

0

Totals

$146 M

$13.8M

298

2,297

Success builds on success, and we fully expect the next four years to see even more accelerated growth. Stay tuned to Doing It in Davenport to track the progress.